In this edition of Where Are They Now, KickOff catches up with Orlando Pirates legend Steve 'Chippa' Lekoelea, who hits back at those who are saying he is down and out as he continues with his quest to find the next best Bafana Bafana striker.
According to reports, the former Orlando Pirates jersey number 10 has become a burden to those who are close to him and is rumoured to have fallen on hard times.
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Lekoelea retired from playing football 15 years ago.
"I'm not entertaining people who want fame through me. They are the ones who know me, but me, I don't know them," Lekoelea tells KickOff.
"If they think I will waste my time arguing with them that's where they are wrong because the only way for me now is forward.
"Those who know me, know I don't drink alcohol. By just looking at me you can tell I'm no drunkard. I'm fresh like a baby.
"If you have the power of God like I do, the haters will always come after you. They just want to distract me so that I lose focus.
"People have been writing about me from back in the day when I was still a footballer, I'm used to such. I'm not worried because I'm well prepared for such," the legend added.
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"At the moment, I'm busy setting up my football academy in Pretoria, the Steve Lekoelea Football Academy. I have under-15, under-17 and under-19 (teams). I have only the good players in my academy. All I do is to polish them.
"In South Africa, we lack strikers. We don't have quality strikers like before. There is no striker like Mark Williams and Philemon Masinga.
"Those are the types of players I'm looking to groom in South Africa. At the moment, we have more midfielders compared to defenders and strikers.
"We need to produce defenders like Mbulelo Old-John Mabizela. We need to produce the Lucas Radebes of this world.
"Nobody can take my God-given talent, so God is the only one who can take it away from me. Football is my gift from God.
"So if you are fighting me, you are fighting God, because I'm a God servant."